Couple who bought $27,000 'fixer-upper' house on little-known Italian lake opens up about why they ditched their plans to move to the U.S.

A couple who had planned to settle down in Chicago readily changed course after discovering the idyllic locale of Lake Iseo in Italy , going on to snap up an ultra-affordable home just steps away from the waterfront.

Kristina Knighten, 38, and Paul Cordier, 46, first met in 2014 when the pair were teaching English in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

She was from Chicago, he was from London - and they both wanted to see the world.

But, even on combined salaries as English teachers, they knew they had to be calculated in their travels, including where they ultimately decided to put down roots.

While the two loved Ho Chi Minh City, Kristina, who runs the @worldsyouroystermushroom TikTok page, told DailyMail.com that larger life expenses, like the simple cost of flying back to the United States to see her family, would mean always straining to save up.

'The salaries were enough to live very, very well in Vietnam because the cost of living is very low,' she explained.

'If you ever want to buy a house, or even just traveling back to Chicago to see my family every year, that's an expensive plane ticket. You have to really save while earning a teacher's wage in Vietnam.'

After spending about three years working in Vietnam, the couple found new, more lucrative gigs in the United Arab Emirates.

While working there, they went about aggressively saving money, with a tentative plan to buy a house in Chicago - Kristina's hometown, which Paul also loved.

Paul's hometown of London, Kristina added, was too expensive to even seriously consider.

But, on looking at options in the greater Chicago area, home prices were well into the six figures.

And the two further struggled to get approved for a mortgage, given that the UAE doesn't issues standard W-2s.

'We were in the process of like, trying to figure this out, how much can we get who would lend to us, when we took a road trip through Europe and found this place,' Kristina said.

On the 2018 road trip, which began in England and took them through France and Spain before they crossed into northern Italy, they'd decided to stop in the Italian coastal commune of Sanremo - but were bummed to find it overrun with tourists.

Paul did a quick Google search to find other, less well-known destinations nearby, and proposed they stay at a bed and breakfast on Monte Isola, an island accessible by ferry in the middle of Lake Iseo, only a few hours drive away.

Upon making the drive to the area - which is not on the radar of most international tourists - the two were left amazed at the natural, pristine beauty of Lake Iseo and the towns surrounding its 40 miles of coastline (not counting the island in its center).

Like many do on visiting a beautiful new place, the couple casually looked up local real estate.

'When we go somewhere, we'll just fantasize about if we could buy a property here. Like, "Let's look at what they cost," just have like a little daydream, a little fantasy life,' Kristina said.

They were pleasantly surprised on realizing how affordable the area was - and couldn't help but wonder if their fantasy life could become  reality.

'We're like, "Oh, actually, we could buy something in cash right now with what we have saved in the bank, for a fixer-upper for sure,"' Kristina said.

And there was an extra appeal in not having to take on a mortgage, on top of her existing student debt.

The next summer, of 2019, they returned to Lake Iseo to house hunt - and found a gem on the eastern shore of a lake, just a few minutes by foot to both the waterfront and the train station.

They ultimately put down 25,000 euros, roughly $27,000, all in cash for the find - and began taking steps toward a much-needed renovation.

The house spanned nearly 1,100 square feet, and originally came with two bedrooms and one bathroom, though, post-renovation, the plan is to have two bedrooms, each with an en suite bath.

As they eventually learned, the property had been the family summer home of a Belgian woman who'd passed away, whose parents were originally from the town.

She'd been 'beloved' by the community, with many reminiscing to Kristina and Paul how they'd enjoyed many a meal with her in that very home.

'Everyone just speaks about her with such love,' Kristina said.

With that, locals were ecstatic to see her old home go to a younger couple with plans to fix it back up and give it new 'life.'

'They've just been like, "We're so happy you've bought this house and you're breathing life back into it,"' she said.

The furniture and knickknacks of the home were left virtually untouched after the woman's death - and, rather that toss everything, Kristina was moved to try and preserve as much of it as possible.

'It's filled with so many beautiful treasures, lots of really cool vintage things. And, you know, it's someone's life. It felt kind of inappropriate to have it all go to the landfill, ' Kristina said in a TikTok .

As for the house's age, there's really no telling for certain - but a clue they found amidst the construction efforts indicated that at least parts of it could be well over 500 years old.

While the realtor ballparked that it'd first been built in the 1700s, in the midst of the renovations, workers discovered a window that had been plastered over, the architectural style of which pointed to medieval origins.

'We were saying, like, "How many people have looked at this window?"' Kristina pondered.

As for the vibe of the town they've settled in - which, to their relief, doesn't see a lot of tourist foot-traffic come through - Kristina described to DailyMail.com that they've been received with open arms by locals.

That said, hardly anyone speaks English, she added. While she's fluent in Spanish, and doing her best to learn Italian, most of the town's elders speak the regional, endangered dialect of Bresciano - which often leaves her in the dark.

'This word "pota," you hear it, and you hear it a lot. And we've asked our friends to explain it to us. And they're never able to give us an explanation of what it means,' the language teacher described of trying to make sense of a very contextually specific Brescian term.

Nonetheless, the two have been fast to find a new friend group among the English-speaking natives of the area.

'On our first trip here, we were just at this bar, and there was a group of Italians at a table. And my husband, he'll talk to anybody. He's like the most confident in the world,' Kristina recalled of their first time to Lake Iseo.

Eventually, the group invited Kristina and Paul to a boat party, and they all remained friends to this day.

Later, a translator to the architect they've been working with also became a part of their friend group.

'It's been kind of natural meeting people,' Kristina brightly described, adding that, while their 'core group' of friends all do speak English, the two hope that their Italian improves enough to connect more closely with those who only speak the native language.

In a move symbolizing their commitment to and love of the community they'd found on Lake Iseo, Kristina and Paul ultimately ended up tying the knot on Mount Isola in 2022.

For the celebration, both sides of their families flew in from Chicago, London, and beyond, and mingled with the couple's newfound group of friends in Lake Iseo.

Of those who traveled in for the wedding, 'Everybody was like, "This is incredible. Thank you for bringing me here,''' Kristina recalled.

While the two have yet to fully settle down in the house on account of the ongoing renovations, they've been renting nearby and have steady work teaching English out of the major regional city of Brescia.

Currently, it's looking like the renovations - which were more extensive than the two had originally anticipated - are going to come out to close to $100,000.

As of early May, the house had a new roof - but was still in need of new floors, plastering, plumbing and electricity.

They're hoping everything will be done by October, but are bracing themselves for a longer wait.

Regardless of the pains of renovating a centuries-old house, the couple couldn't be happier with their new Italian lifestyle.

Kristina describes mornings with coffees and croissants, and evenings of local, seasonal produce and wine. Because eating out is so cheap, the couple can also go out for a meal or a drink on a regular basis.

And, despite the language barriers, Kristina reported that the welcome they the reception they've seen as new residents of the town has been 'overwhelmingly positive' and warm.

'Our neighbor bought us like a big Italian flag and was like, "Oh, you can hang this now!" Everyone's just been going out of their way to make us feel welcome. We always joke, "Have we died and gone to heaven?"' she said.